Latch for a trash compactor drawer or the like

ABSTRACT

One end of the hinged side wall of the drawer is held in an upright position and is releasably latched to the front panel of the drawer by a rotary hook while the other end of the side wall is releasably latched to the rear panel by a reciprocable rod. The hook and the rod are interconnected such that, when the hook is turned between latched and unlatched positions, the rod is reciprocated between latched and unlatched positions thereby to enable simultaneous latching and simultaneous unlatching of both ends of the side wall and to insure that one end will not be left unlatched when the other end is latched. The latch further includes a spring-loaded plunger which automatically latches with the front panel to hold the side wall in an intermediate outwardly hinged position and which may be released by turning of the hook beyond its unlatched position.

United States Patent [191 Anderson 1 1 3,764,171 [451 Oct. 9,1973

[ LATCH FOR A TRASH COMPACTOR DRAWER OR THE LIKE [75] Inventor: Donald L. 'Anderson, Rockford, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Amerock Corporation, Rockford,

Ill.

[22] Filed: Sept. 30, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 185,187

[52] US. Cl 292/8, 3l2/322 [51] Int. Cl. E0'5c 9/14 [58] Field of Search 292/8, 31, 35, 54, 292/36, 40, 173, 5; 312/322 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 897,377 9/1908 King 292/36 X 2,729,089 l/l956 Pelcin 292/36 X 3,6l3,566 l0/l97l Shapleigh, Jr. 312/322 2,126,995

8/1938 Kingdon 292/5 X Primary Examiner'Richard E. Moore Attorney-Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann 57 ABSTRACT One end of the hinged side wall of the drawer is held in an upright position and is releasably latched to the front panel of the drawerby a rotary hook while the other end of the side wall is releasably latched to the rear panel by a reciprocable rod. The hook and the rod are interconnected such that, when the hook is turned between latched and unlatched positions, the

' rod is reciprocated between latched and unlatched positions thereby to enable simultaneous latching and simultaneous unlatching of both ends of the side wall and to insure that one end will not be left unlatched when the other end is latched. The latch further includes a spring-loaded plunger which I automatically latches with the front panel to hold the side wall in an intermediate outwardly hinged position and which may be released by turning of the hook beyond its unlatched position.

10 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures sively moved positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a latch for releasably holding a member in a predetermined position and, more particularly, to a latch for holding the hinged side wall of a drawer of the type which'is incorporated, for example, in a trash compactor. In such a drawer, one side wall is hinged to the bottom panela-and is normally latched to the front and rear panels so as to be held in an upright position. When the compacted trash is to be removed from the drawer, the hinged side wall is unlatched from the front and rear panels and is tilted outwardly and downwardly to facilitate removal of the trash.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary'aim of the present invention is to provide' a new and improved latch which, when used in conjunction with a drawer of the above type, not only,

insures that the hinged side wall will be latched'to both the front panel and the rear panel when the side wall with respect to one of the panels and the other latching I element reciprocating automatically between latched and unlatched positions with respect to the other panel as an incident to turning the rotatable latching element.

A further object is to provide a latch capable of automatically holding the side wall in an intermediate outwardly hinged position and capable of releasing the' side wall from such position simply upon manual movement of one .of the latching elements beyond its unlatched position. v

The invention also resides in the relatively simply and inexpensive construction of the latch.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are perspective views of an exemplary drawer equipped with a new and improved latch embodying the novel features of the invention, the views showing the side wall of the drawer in succes- FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the latch and drawer shown in FIG. 1, parts being broken away and shown in cross-section.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary views taken substantially along the lines 5- 5 and 6-6, respectively, of FIG. 4.

FIG. -7 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch in an unlatched condition to permit swinging of the side wall from its upright position to its intermediate position.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but showing the latch conditioned to permit swinging of the side wall from its intermediate position to its full outwardly hinged position. I

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the opposite side of the latch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED. EMBODIMENT For purposes of illustration, the'latch 10 of the present invention has been shown in the drawings as mounted on the trash drawer ll of a trash compactor 13. As is conventional, the drawer includes opposed side members or walls 14 and 15, a bottom wall I6, and opposed front and rear end panels 17 and 18. The side wall 15 is hinged along its lower margin at 20 to one edge of the bottom wall and normally is latched at its ends to the end panels so as to be held in an upright position extending perpendicular to the end panels and the bottom wall.

After the trashhas been compressed in and has filled a bag (not shown), the drawer 11 is slid outwardly from the compactor l3 and the side wall 15 isunlatched from the end panels 17 and 18 and tilted downwardly and outwardly about the hinge 20 to facilitate removal of the bag fromthe drawer. Thereafter, the side wall 15 is returned to its normal upright position and is relatched to the front and rear panels 17 and 18 before the drawer is slid back into the compactor. It is important that the side wall be latched to both of the end panels because the trash being compacted in the drawer otherwise would force one end of the side wall outwardly and ultimatelywould spring the side wall.

The present invention contemplates the provision of anew and improved latch 10 which insures that one end of the side wall 15 cannot be latched to one of the end panels 17, 18 without the other end of the side wall also being latched to the other end panel. Moreover, the latch is constructed such that only a single manual operation need be performed to release the side wall from both end panels or to re-latch the side wall to the end panels. The present latch thus is faster and simpler to operate than previous latches used on trash compactor drawers and, at the same time, avoids the danger of the drawer being damaged by assuringthat the side wall will be latched to both the front and rear panels 17 and 18 when re-latching is effected.

In carrying out the invention, the latch 1 0 is provided with a front latching element'25 (FIG. 4) for latching the front end of the side wall l5 to the front panel I7 and also with a rear latching element 26 for latching the rear end of the side wall to the rear panel 18, the front latching element being rotatable and the rear latching element being movable linearly back and forth along the side wall. The latching elements are interconnected such that, when the front latching element is turned manually between latched and unlatched positions (FIGS. 4 and 7), the rear latching element is reciprocated linearly between latched and unlatched positions. Accordingly, both latching elements are operated simultaneously and neither can be'latched unless the other is latched.

More specifically, the front latching element 25 is simply a hook located on the outer side of the side wall 15 near the front end thereof and adapted to project through an opening 27 (FIGS. 4 and 6) in the rear side of the front panel 17, the lower edge portion of the engages to latch the front end of the side wall to the front panel and thereby hold the side wall in its upright position. The hook is formed integrally with and projects radially from a disc-like member which is mounted to turn about a horizontal pivot pin 31 anchored to a support bracket 33. The bracket is located near the front end portion of the side wall 15 and is mounted on vertically spaced ribs 34 protruding outwardly from and extending along the side wall.

Spaced angularly from the hook 25 is a handle 35 (FIG. 4) also formed integrally with and extending radially from the disc 30. By turning the handle clockwise, the hook may be swung from the latched position shown in FIG. 4 to the unlatched position shown in FIG. 7 thereby to release the hook from the keeper 29 and to withdraw the hook from the opening 27 to free the side wall 15 for swinging to its outwardly hinged position.

The rear latching element 26' comprises an elongated horizontal rod disposed between two of the ribs 34 and guided for back and forth endwise movement along the outer side of the side wall 15 by a yoke-like bracket 36 (FIG. 4) attached to the side wall. When the rod 26 is in its latched position shown in FIG. 4, the rear end of the rod projects through a hole formed in a keeper lug 37 projecting outwardly from the rear panel 18. The rod thus keeps the rear end of the side wall 15 latched to the rear panel 18 and assists the hook 25 in holding the side wall rigidly anchored in its upright position so that the ends of the wall will not be sprung outwardly during compaction of the trash. When the rod is shifted forwardly to its unlatched position shown in FIG. 7, the rear end of the rod is withdrawn from the keeper 37 so as to free the rear end of the side wall from the rear panel and enable outward hinging of the side wall.

To interconnect the hook 25 and the rod 26 for simultaneous movement between their latched and unlatched positions, an eccentric crank pin 40 (FIGS. 4 and 9) is staked to the inner side of the disc 30 and projects inwardly through an arcuate slot 41 (FIG. 9) in the support bracket 33. The inner end of the crank pin 40 is connected pivotally to the forward end of a link 43 whose rear end is connected pivotally by a pin 44 to the forward end of the rod 26, the pin 44 extending outwardly through a straight slot 45 in the bracket 33 and being guided for back and forth horizontal movement by the slot. Thus, the crank pin and the link serve to convert the back and forth turning motion imparted to the disc 30 and the hook 25 into back and forth reciprocating motion for shifting the rod 26 linearly between its latched and unlatched positions.

Accordingly, when the handle 35 is turned to swing the hook 25 between its latched and unlatched positions with respect to the front panel 17, the rod 26 is reciprocated between its latched and unlatched positions with respect to the rear panel 18. The ends of the side wall 15 thus may be latched simultaneously to and unlatched simultaneously from the end panels and, in addition, one end of the side wall cannot be latched unless the other end also is latched.

In some instances, it is necessary only to tilt the side wall 15 outwardly and downwardly through a short angular distance to an intermediate position shown in FIG. 2 so as to relieve the pressure on the compacted trash bag and enable upward lifting of the bag from the drawer 11. If the bag is particularly full or heavy, however, it is desirable to swing the side wall fully downwardly and outwardly to the horizontal position shown in FIG. 3 so that the bag may be removed sidewise from the drawer.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, novel provision is made in the 'latch 10 of a detent (FIGS. 4 and 5) which normally automatically latches the side wall 15 in its intermediate position shown in FIG. 2 when the side wall is unlatched and swung outwardly. The detent, however, may be released simply by turning the hook 25 slightly beyond its unlatched position and, when the detent is released, the side wall is freed for outward and downward tilting to its horizontal position shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the detent is capable of holding the side wall in its intermediate position but may be released by continuing the same manual movement used to unlatch the hook.

Herein, the detent 50 comprises an elongated horizontal plunger located on the inner side of the bracket 33 between a pair of the ribs 34 and guided for back and forth sliding by a pair of apertured tabs 51 (FIG. 5) struck inwardly from the bracket. A coil spring 53 telescoped over the plunger 50 is compressed between the rear tab and a snap ring 52 on the plunger and urges the latter forwardly. An ear 54 projects outwardly from the rear end of the plunger and tits slidably into a slot 55 (FIGS. 4 and 9) formed in the bracket, engagement of the ear with the closed end of the slot serving to limit forward movement of the plunger.

When the side wall 15 is in its normal upright position, the forward end of the plunger 50 simply presses against the rear face of the front panel 17 as shown in FIG. 5 without performing any latching function. The

front panel keeps the plunger in a rearwardly located position with the ear 54 spaced rearwardly from the closed end of the slot 55. As the side wall 15 is tilted a short distance outwardly afterunlatching of the hook 25 and the rod 26, the plunger moves into alinement with a hole 57 (FIG. 5) in the rear face of the front panel. If the hook 25 has not been turned clockwise beyond its unlatched position shown in FIG. 7, the spring 53 forces the plunger forwardly to cause the forward end of the plunger to snap into the hole 57 and thereby hold the side wall in its intermediate tilted position shown in FIG. 2. The trash bag then may be lifted out of the drawer 11.

If it is desired, however, to tilt the side wall 15 downwardly to its horizontal position, it is necessary only to turn the handle 35 clockwise a'short distance to turn the hook 25 beyond its normal unlatched position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 8. As an incident to such turning, the rear surface of the hook engages the forward surface of the ear 54 to shift the plunger rearwardly and thereby retract the forward end of the plunger out of the hole 57 in the front panel 17. The side wall 15 then is released for tilting to its horizontal position to enable sidewise removal of the trash bag from the drawer 11. If desired, the latching action of the plunger may be disabled at the same time the hook is unlatched simply by continuing to turn the hook beyond its unlatched position to retract the plunger away from the front panel 17 and by holding the parts in that position as the side wall is swung downwardly. In such an instance, the plunger is prevented from snapping into the hole and thus the side wall may be swung from its upright position to its horizontal position without being stopped in its intermediate position. When it is desired to stop the side wall in its intermediate position, the hook 25 is turned in the unlatching disimply is turned clockwise to retract the plunger 50 from the hole 57 and enable inward and upward swinging of the side wall. Thereafter, the handle is turned reversely to latch the hook and the rod 26. As the side wall is returned upwardly from its horizontal position, the forward end of the plunger engages an inclined cam surface 60 (H08. 5 and 6)'on the rear edge of the front panel 17 adjacent the hole 57 and is forced rearwardly. If the side wall then is swung quickly to its upright position, the plunger will move past the hole 57 but will not snap into the hole and thus the side wall may be returned to its upright position without being stopped in its intermediate position and without need of holding the handle 35. Of course, by holding the plunger 50 retracted with the handle, the plunger is positively-prevented from snapping into the hole 57 and thus the side wall can be returned slowly from its horizontal position to its upright position if desired.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a latch and a drawer, said drawer having a bottom wall, a pair of opposed side walls and first and second opposed end panels, one of said side walls being connected at its lower margin to said bottom wall for swinging between a normal upright position and an outwardly hinged position, said latch comprising a support mountable on said one side wall,

a first manually movable latching element mounted to turn on said support between latched and unlatched positions, said first latching element being operable in said latched position to engage said first end panel and hold said one side wall in said upright position and being operable in saidunlatched position to release said first end panel to free said one side wall for swinging toward said outwardly hinged position, a second ing toward its outwardly hinged position, and means connecting said second latching element to said first latching element for linearly reciprocating said second latching element between its positions automatically in response to turning of said first latching element be tween its positions whereby both of the latching ele- 0nd latching element, an arcuate slot in said support receiving said crank pin and accommodating movement of the latter during turning of said member, and

a straight slot in said support receiving said attaching.

pin and guiding the latter for back and forth movement. 4. The combination defined in claim 2 in which said second latching element comprises an elongated rod pivoted at one of its ends to said link.

5. The combination defined in claim I further including a disc mounted to turn about a predetermined axis on said support and supporting said first latching element, said first latching element comprising a hook formed integrally with and projecting radially from said disc, and a manually engageable handle formed integrally with and projecting radially from said disc and spaced angularly from said hook.

6.'The combination defined in claim 1 further including a detent on said support and normally operable to automatically latch against said first end panel when said one side wall is swung from said upright position to a position intermediate said upright and outwardly hinged positions, said detent being operable when latched to hold said one side wall in said intermediate position, and coacting surfaces on said detent and said first latching element and engageable to release said detent from said first panel upon turning of the first latching element beyond its unlatched position thereby to free said one side wall for swinging from its intermediate position to its outwardly hinged'position. v

7. The combination defined in claim 6 in which said detent comprises a plunger guided for'back and forth movement on said support, and means biasing said plunger toward latching engagement with said first end panel.

8. A latch fora drawer or the like having a bottom wall, a pair of opposed side walls and'first and second opposed end panels and having one side wall connected at its lower margin to said bottom wall for swinging between a normal upright position and an outwardly hinged position, said latch comprising a support mountable on said'one side wall, a manually movable latching 7 side wall is swung from said upright position to a posiments may be latched and unlatched simultaneously by manually turning said first latching element.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 further including a member mounted to turn about a predetermined axis on said support and supporting said first latching element, said means comprising a crank pin connected to said member and offset radially from said axis, and a link pivoted at one of its ends to said pin and pivoted at the other of its ends to said second latching element.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 furtherincluding an attaching pin for connecting said link to said section intermediate said upright and outwardly hinged positions with said latching element disposed in said' sition to its outwardly hinged position.

9. A latch as defined in claim 8 in which said latching element is mounted on said support to turn between said latched and unlatched positions, said detent comprising a plunger guided for back and forth movement on said support, and means biasing said plunger toward latching engagement with said first end panel.

panel and free said one side wall for swinging toward its outwardly hinged position, and means connecting said first and second latching elements for moving said second latching element between its latched and unlatched positions in response to movement of said first latching element between its latched and unlatched positions.

=0 1 i k k 

1. The combination of a latch and a drawer, said drawer having a bottom wall, a pair of opposed side walls and first and second opposed end panels, one of said side walls being connected at its lower margin to said bottom wall for swinging between a normal upright position and an outwardly hinged position, said latch comprising a support mountable on said one side wall, a first manually movable latching element mounted to turn on said support between latched and unlatched positions, said first latching element being operable in said latched position to engage said first end panel and hold said one side wall in said upright position and being operable in said unlatched position to release said first end panel to free said one side wall for swinging toward said outwardly hinged position, a second latching element mounted on said support for back and forth movement between latched and unlatched positions, said second latching element being operable when in its latched position to engage said second end panel and assist said first latching element in holding said one side wall in said upright position and being operable when in its unlatched position to release said second end panel and free said one side wall for swinging toward its outwardly hinged position, and means connecting said second latching element to said first latching element for linearly reciprocating said second latching element between its positions automatically in response to turning of said first latching element between its positions whereby both of the latching elements may be latched and unlatched simultaneously by manually turning said first latching element.
 2. The combination defined in claim 1 further including a member mounted to turn about a predetermined axis on said support and supporting said first latching element, said means comprising a crank pin connected to said member and offset radially from said axis, and a link pivoted at one of its ends to said pin and pivoted at the other of its ends to said second latching element.
 3. The combination defined in claim 2 further including an attaching pin for connecting said link to said second latching element, an arcuate slot in said support receiving said crank pin and accommodating movement of the latter during turning of said member, and a straight slot in said support receiving said attaching pin and guiding the latter for back and forth movement.
 4. The combination defined in claim 2 in which said second latching element comprises an elongated rod pivoted at one of its ends to said link.
 5. The combination defined in claim 1 further including a disc mounted to turn about a predetermined axis on said support and supporting said first latching element, said first latching element comprising a hook formed integrally with and projecting radially from said disc, and a manually engageable handle formed integrally with and projecting radially from said disc and spaced angularly from said hook.
 6. The combination defined in claim 1 further including a detent on said support and normally operable to automatically latch against said first end panel when said one side wall is swung from said upright position to a position intermediate said upright and outwardly hinged positions, said detent being operable when latched to hold said one side wall in said intermediate position, and coacting surfaces on said detent and said first latching element and engageable to release said detent from said first panel upon turning of the first latching element beyond its unlatched position thereby to free said one side wall for swinging from its intermediate position to its outwardly hinged Position.
 7. The combination defined in claim 6 in which said detent comprises a plunger guided for back and forth movement on said support, and means biasing said plunger toward latching engagement with said first end panel.
 8. A latch for a drawer or the like having a bottom wall, a pair of opposed side walls and first and second opposed end panels and having one side wall connected at its lower margin to said bottom wall for swinging between a normal upright position and an outwardly hinged position, said latch comprising a support mountable on said one side wall, a manually movable latching element mounted to move on said support between latched and unlatched positions, said latching element being operable in said latched position to engage said first end panel and hold said one side wall in said upright position and being operable in said unlatched position to release said first end panel to free said one side wall for swinging toward said outwardly hinged position, a detent on said support and operable to automatically latch against said first end panel when said one side wall is swung from said upright position to a position intermediate said upright and outwardly hinged positions with said latching element disposed in said unlatched position, said detent being operable when latched to hold said one side wall in said intermediate position, and coacting surfaces on said detent and said latching element and engageable to release said detent from said first panel upon movement of the latching element beyond its unlatched position thereby to free said one side wall for swinging from its intermediate position to its outwardly hinged position.
 9. A latch as defined in claim 8 in which said latching element is mounted on said support to turn between said latched and unlatched positions, said detent comprising a plunger guided for back and forth movement on said support, and means biasing said plunger toward latching engagement with said first end panel.
 10. A latch as defined in claim 8 further including a second latching element mounted on said support to move between latched and unlatched positions, said second latching element being operable when in its latched position to engage said second end panel and assist said first latching element in holding said one side wall in said upright position and being operable when in its unlatched position to release said second end panel and free said one side wall for swinging toward its outwardly hinged position, and means connecting said first and second latching elements for moving said second latching element between its latched and unlatched positions in response to movement of said first latching element between its latched and unlatched positions. 